1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nerve stimulation apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Stimulation of the vagus nerve on a patient who has experienced cardiac infarction has conventionally known to be capable of suppressing cardiac remodeling (for example, see WO2006/098996). In addition, it has been proposed that stimulation of the vagus nerve over a long period of time on a patient experiencing cardiac failure can potentially prevent progress of the disease.
In the related art described above, in order to perform cardiac treatment on a patient, remodeling control therapy is performed by biventricular pacing, and anti-remodeling therapy is performed by nerve stimulation. In addition, by performing nerve stimulation in the cardiac refractory period, undesired stimulation of the heart due to leakage of nerve stimulation is prevented so that the heart is not adversely affected.